


When They Came for the Inhumans

by DaLiza



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Adorable FitzSimmons (Agents of SHIELD), Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass pregnant Jemma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Inhumans (Marvel), Parenthood, Protective papa Fitz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 14:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15196784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaLiza/pseuds/DaLiza
Summary: FitzSimmons’s simple life in Perthshire with their adopted inhuman daughter (and a baby on the way) is threatened by a politician who believes all inhumans should be locked up. A sequel to “The Little Agent,” but can be read on its own.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read "The Little Agent," here's what you need to know: Fitz and Simmons have retired from SHIELD and are living in Perthshire with their adopted inhuman daughter, Grace, who is now seven years old. Grace's power is the ability to make force fields around herself and others.

“Ugh, Fitz! Stop treating me like a child!” Simmons said when her husband asked if she needed a snack for the third time in twenty minutes. They were working side by side on their latest project—building better prosthetic limbs for amputees—in the basement lab of their Perthshire home. “I’m perfectly capable of getting myself food when I need it.”

“Sorry,” said Fitz, lowering his head. “I didn’t mean to treat you like a child. I just...I want to make sure I’m being a good husband and taking care of you.” He looked at her abdomen. A stranger on the street wouldn’t know she was three months pregnant, but Fitz knew her body well enough to see the subtle changes. “Both of you.”

Simmons’s expression softened. She kissed his cheek. “You are a good husband. And a good father. Grace adores you, and I’m sure our baby will too.”

“I can’t wait to meet her.” Fitz’s smile lit up his face. “If she’s anything like her mother, she’s going to be spectacular.” He knelt down to talk to his wife’s stomach. “You’ll be the brightest baby in all of Scotland...my little Rosie.”

“Rosie?” Asked Simmons, surprised. “After your grandmother?”

“Yeah. I wanted to try it out. What do you think?”

“Rose Fitz-Simmons.” Simmons considered it for a few moments. “I’ll add it to the list.”

“In what color?” Fitz knew that the potential baby name list, like every other list his wife made, had a color coding system. Names she liked were in red, names he liked were in blue, and names they both liked were in purple.

“Purple,” said Simmons. Mentioning their daughter’s favorite color triggered a memory. “Did I tell you that Grace wants the baby’s name to be a shade of purple?”

“So...Light Purple Fitz-Simmons?” Fitz joked.

Simmons rolled her eyes. “She was thinking Lavender. Or Violet.”

“Lavender Fitz-Simmons is quite the mouthful,” said Fitz. “But I like Violet. Do you?”

“I like it better than Light Purple Fitz-Simmons,” she teased. “I’ll put it on the list.”

“How many names are on the list at this point?” Fitz asked.

“Adding Rose and Violet...I think around forty five. I hope to narrow it down to ten by my third trimester.”

Fitz chuckled. “When I talked to my Mum on the phone yesterday, she asked if we had picked a name yet. Do you want to know why she asked?”

“Knowing your Mum...she wants to knit a personalized baby blanket?” Simmons guessed.

“Yes! It would be the fourth baby blanket she’s made in as many weeks! I know she’s excited about having another grandchild, but how many blankets does one baby really--”

They heard the sound of the front door being opened and closed.

“Grace is home from school already?” Fitz frowned as he looked at his watch. “I didn’t realize it was so late. Where did the day go?”

“You insisted we go back to bed after Grace left for school,” said Simmons, picking up their tools and putting them back in their proper places. “We could have been more productive today if we hadn’t had a two hour nap.”

Fitz sighed. “You’re right of course...but I can’t regret extra time spent in bed with my wife.”

Fitz gave her a quick kiss, which turned into a lengthy kiss, and then they headed upstairs to see their daughter.

XXXXX

Fitz and Simmons expected to find Grace in the kitchen, getting herself her usual after school snack, but the kitchen was empty. Simmons called her name, but there was no answer.

Husband and wife shared a look of concern. It wasn’t like Grace to hide from them. She was always eager to tell her parents about everything that had happened at school: what she was learning, what games she played at recess, which children in her class were misbehaving and what her teacher had done to discipline them.

After checking the living room and bathroom, Fitz and Simmons climbed the stairs to the upper level of their home and found Grace in her bedroom. She was sitting on top of her purple bedspread and clutching her treasured triceratops stuffed animal to her chest. Behind her glasses, tears were sliding down her cheeks.

Fitz rushed to his daughter’s bed and sat beside her. Simmons followed suit. “What happened, sweetie?” She asked.

Grace let out a few shuddering breaths before answering. “Bruce...”

“That boy who’s been teasing you?” Fitz clenched his fists. “I’m going to send a drone to his house and--”

“Fitz,” Simmons said in her calmest voice. “You are not going to terrorize a seven year old.”

“Fine. Maybe I can talk to his parents.”

“Nooo!” Grace cried.

Simmons rubbed her daughter’s back. “What did Bruce do to make you so upset?”

“He was being mean to me and Charlotte, calling us names, and we were ignoring him like you told me to and then he threw a ball really hard at Charlotte’s head and...” There was a long pause as Grace avoided her parents’ eyes. “Please don’t be mad.”

“You used your powers to protect Charlotte,” Fitz said. He and Simmons, along with Grace’s “aunts” Daisy and YoYo, had been working with Grace to help her control her powers. Grace was doing her best, but she had a long way to go.

“I didn’t mean to!” Grace sobbed. “I know I’m not supposed to use my powers at school. Bruce got so mad! He said I was an inhuman freak, and his dad was going to lock me up with all the other freaks.”

Fitz and Simmons looked at each other. In almost perfect unison they asked Grace, “Is Bruce’s dad Magnus Macdougall?”

Grace nodded.

Fitz and Simmons didn’t spend much time reading the news, but they had heard of Magnus Macdougall, an outspoken politician running for re-election on an anti-inhuman platform. Macdougall was calling for all inhumans to be locked up to protect “normal” people. Polls showed a surprising number of people agreed with him.

“We’re not going to let Macdougall or anyone else lock you up,” said Fitz, holding Grace close.

“Your father’s right,” said Simmons. “We’ll always keep you safe. There’s nothing to worry about.”

But Fitz and Simmons were definitely worried.


	2. Chapter 2

“I’m starting to think this was a bad idea,” Fitz said to Simmons as they sat together in a banquet hall that was rapidly filling up with people. 

For the past week, they had been trying to contact Magnus Macdougall, hoping to convince him that his proposal to lock up all inhumans was unnecessary and cruel. But every time they called his office, an apologetic aide said Magnus was unavailable because he was either “personally overseeing the preparations for an upcoming rally” or “attending a rally to bring his message to the people.” When they went to his office in person, they received the same apologies and excuses. So when they heard that Magnus was holding a rally less than an hour’s drive from their home, they decided to go. Fitz’s mum had happily agreed to babysit Grace, who was equally excited to spend time with her grandmother.

Simmons looked around the banquet hall. There were men and women of all ages, as well as families with young children. Why, she wondered, would people bring their children to hear such hateful rhetoric? “I didn’t expect to see so many people here.”

“Isn’t it great?” Said a blond man in his thirties who sat down beside her. “Magnus deserves all the support he can get. So many politicians these days are too afraid of offending anyone to tell the truth about anything, but not him. He’s the only one talking about how dangerous these inhumans are.”

“You support his plan to imprison all inhumans,” Simmons said evenly, “whether or not they’ve committed any crime.”

“He’s not saying we should lock them up forever, just until we can sort the good ones from the bad.” The man smiled. “That’s more humane than the Watchdogs killing them all, isn’t it?” 

Simmons was about to argue that point when Magnus Macdougall himself appeared before the crowd. He was a large man with short brown hair, a well trimmed beard, and a dazzling smile. The room exploded in applause. Some people started chanting his name. Moments later the entire room, except Fitz and Simmons, had joined in.

Magnus let the chanting continue for several seconds before trying to speak. “It’s wonderful to see such a good crowd here tonight! Thank you all for coming.” His smile faded, replaced by a more serious expression. “Ladies and gentlemen, the human race is facing an unprecedented crisis. These so-called ‘inhumans’ are becoming more brazen in their attacks on normal people. You can’t watch the news these days without seeing a story about one of those freaks going on a murder spree. And yet my opponent doesn’t believe that inhumans are a problem.”

Many people in the crowd booed.

“My opponent would have you ignore what you can see with your own eyes. Would you ignore a fire headed for your home?”

“No!” Shouted the crowd.

“Would you try being polite to the fire? Ask it nicely not to kill your family and destroy everything you own?”

“No!” The crowd shouted again.

“Of course you wouldn’t! You can’t reason with a fire, and you can’t reason with these inhuman animals. They have no sympathy or compassion for humankind. They won’t stop their reign of terror unless WE stop them.”

Fitz muttered “Bloody nonsense” as the crowd cheered.

“If I’m re-elected, I will make sure humans are protected from the inhuman menace. Until the inhumans are behind bars, no one is safe. Not even our children. Last week my seven year old boy was viciously attacked by an inhuman at school--”

“That’s a lie!” Shouted Simmons. Several people in the hall gasped.

Fitz turned to face Simmons and saw that she had leapt to her feet. He noticed two security guards coming toward them and rushed to put his body between the guards and Simmons. “My wife is pregnant,” he told them. “Don’t you dare touch her!”

Magnus motioned for security to back off. “Not to worry, lads. I’m not afraid of a wee woman.” He stared at Simmons. “Are you calling my boy a liar?”

“No,” said Simmons. “I’m calling YOU a liar. You would have these people believe that all inhumans are dangerous animals, but the truth is that inhumans are far more likely to be the targets of violence than the perpetrators.”

“Nonsense,” Magnus scoffed. “Where did you hear such a ridiculous statement?”

“A study done by S.H.I.E.L.D.--”

“S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Magnus laughed as if he’d heard the world’s best joke. “The organization who didn’t know they had Nazis in their midst? Who condoned the terrorist actions of the vigilante Quake? Who picked a fake inhuman as their director? S.H.I.E.L.D. gets disbanded every other year it seems. Hardly a reliable source to get information from, lassie.”

The crowd’s laughter brought an insufferable smile to Magnus’s face. 

Fitz clenched his fists. If it wasn’t for the crowd, he would be tempted to wipe that smile off Magnus’s face right now.

“If you don’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Simmons retorted, “how about the BBC? According to their research, less than one percent of violent crimes last year were committed by inhumans.”

“You’re so eager to defend these abominations,” said Magnus. “I’m starting to think that you’re one of them!” 

“I’m not an inhuman,” Simmons said. “But my daughter is, and she’s the sweetest child I’ve ever--”  
The crowd started booing, drowning out Simmons’s voice. 

Fitz wrapped an arm around Simmons’s waist. “We should go now, before this crowd gets out of control. Please, Jemma. For the baby’s sake.”

Simmons hesitated, not wanting to give up or back down. Not when their daughter’s future was at stake. Yet, seeing the desperate look in her husband’s eyes and hearing the anger of the crowd, she reluctantly followed Fitz out of the banquet hall.

As the door to the hall was closing behind them, Simmons heard Magnus say, “Clearly my opponent sent those two to disrupt my rally.”

On the drive home, Simmons began to cry. “I was stupid, thinking that I could use facts to change the mind of someone so heartless...”

“You weren’t stupid,” said Fitz. He took one hand off the steering wheel to put it on top of Simmons’s hand. “You were brave. You stood up to a powerful man telling lies that could destroy a lot of lives. If Grace had seen you tonight, she would have been as proud of you as I am.”

“Thank you, Fitz.” She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. “So what do we do now?”

Fitz sighed. “We’ll do everything we can to make sure his days in office are numbered.”

XXXXX

Fitz and Simmons spent the next several weeks reaching out to family, friends, and neighbors, encouraging them to vote and to tell everyone they knew to vote. Poll after poll suggested that it would be a close race.

On the night before the election, Fitz and Simmons took Grace to eat at her favorite restaurant, Grand Italia. Normally their daughter had an impressive appetite, but now she barely touched her plate of penne al pomodoro.

“Why aren’t you eating, sweetie?” Simmons asked.

Grace used her fork to move some pasta around her plate. “I’m scared, Mommy. I don’t want Mr. Macdougall to take me away.”

“That’s not going to happen,” said Fitz. The words came out louder than he intended, causing people at nearby tables to stare at him. 

“But Bruce said that when his dad wins the election--”

“He’s not going to win,” said Simmons with more confidence than she felt. “Magnus Macdougall may have manipulated some people, but many more people see him for who he truly is: a con artist using fear and lies to stay in power. Tomorrow the majority of people in Scotland are going to reject his hateful rhetoric and vote against him. Human decency will prevail.”

“Your mother’s right,” said Fitz, forcing himself to smile. “She’s always right.”

Except this time she wasn’t.


	3. Chapter 3

“All inhumans must turn themselves in to the proper authorities by the end of this week.” The young man on the television screen wore a dark suit and tie. His hair was slicked back and his lips were curled in an arrogant smile. “Any inhumans who don’t turn themselves in will be arrested. Anyone helping inhumans evade the authorities will also be arrested.”

“What will happen to the inhumans once they’re in custody?” A female reporter asked Magnus Macdougall’s spokesman.

“Each inhuman will be evaluated to determine if he or she is a threat to society,” the spokesman said. “Those who turn themselves in will be evaluated first. Any individuals who don’t pose a threat will be released.”

“What would you say to people who argue that treating all inhumans like criminals is morally wrong?” The reporter asked, sounding to Fitz and Simmons like a parent disciplining a child.

“I would say that our collective survival depends on us treating the inhuman problem seriously. Pretending this problem will go away on its own is dangerously naive. We have to take action or else humanity faces extinction.”

Fitz turned off the television and threw the remote to the floor. “This is bloody insane! Magnus Macdougall never should have been re-elected! We told Grace it wouldn’t happen. We lied to our daughter!”

“Fitz!” Simmons put a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “You have every right to be upset, but please keep your voice down. You’ll wake her up.” 

“We need to take her out of the country.” Fitz started pacing the room. “Grace was born in America. Maybe we could bring her there.”

Simmons laughed bitterly. “America isn’t welcoming inhuman refugees these days...or any refugees for that matter. But even if we could take Grace to America, I wouldn’t want to. Scotland is our home.”

Fitz stopped pacing, locking eyes with his wife. “But our home isn’t safe for her. We need to leave!”

Tears welled up in Simmons’s eyes. “When I was on Maveth...when I was looking for you in the framework...there were so many moments when I was on the verge of losing myself to despair. The only thing that got me through those dark days was imagining a future with you. I used to think about what it would be like to live with you in a cottage in Perthshire, to raise a family with you. Now that we finally have everything I’ve dreamed about...I can’t go back to a life on the run. I don’t want that for Grace or our baby.”

Fitz fought back his own tears. “What choice do we have, Jemma? If we stay, they’ll take Grace away. Despite what they’re saying on the news, I don’t think we’d ever get her back.”

“We could protest the law. We could rally others who voted against Magnus and-“

Fitz was shaking his head. “This government hates inhuman sympathizers almost as much as it hates inhumans. What if you get arrested? Do you want to give birth to our baby in jail?”

“Of course not, but we have to do something! We may not be in SHIELD anymore, but that doesn’t mean we’ve turned our backs on the world.”

“I don’t want to turn my back on the world, but we don’t have the resources we once did. SHIELD is legitimate again. They won’t help us break Scottish law. The two of us alone can’t save the world, but we can save our family. Please, Jemma. If anything happened to you or Grace or our baby...I’m scared of what I would do. I don’t want to become a monster again.”

Simmons wrapped her arms around him. “You are not a monster. You are Leopold James Fitz-Simmons, brilliant scientist and loving husband and father.”

“I don’t deserve you.” Fitz kissed the side of her neck.

“Yes, you do.” They spent a few minutes in contented silence, continuing to hold each other, before Simmons spoke again. “Let’s get some sleep. We can figure this out in the morn-oh!”

Fitz pulled away from her. “What’s wrong? Is the baby okay?”

“I think she just kicked.”

Fitz knelt down and put his hands on her abdomen. “Tell her to do it again.”

Simmons laughed. “It doesn’t work that way, Fitz.”

“How do you know that until you try?”

“Alright. Baby Fitz-Simmons, please kick so your father can feel it.”

To the surprise of both her parents, the baby complied.

“That’s amazing,” Fitz said, grinning. “She understood you. She’s a genius!”

“Of course she is.” Simmons kissed his forehead. “Let’s go to sleep.”

“I can’t go to sleep now. I want to feel more baby kicks!”

XXXXX

Grace woke up from a bad dream and, wanting comfort, went to find her parents. She gently knocked on their bedroom door, but there was no answer. She was about to knock again when she heard her Dad downstairs. He sounded angry about something. She had never heard him sound angry before.

Curious, she walked to the top of the stairs and listened. Mom and Dad were arguing about whether or not they should leave Scotland. Mom wanted to stay. Dad asked her if she wanted to have the baby in jail.

Grace gasped. She didn’t want her baby sister to be born in a jail! Jails were for bad people, and her baby sister hadn’t done anything wrong.

She didn’t want her parents going to jail either. They were the nicest and smartest grownups she had ever met.

What could she do?

She thought of Mulan, one of her favorite movies. Since Agent May gave her the DVD as a Christmas gift, she had watched it at least once a week.

Mulan had gone to join the army to protect her Dad. She had left while her parents were sleeping so that they couldn’t stop her.

What if, while her Mom and Dad were sleeping, she walked to the police station by her school and told them she was an inhuman?

Then her parents and baby sister would be safe. She would be a hero, just like Mulan.

Grace went back to her room and waited.


	4. Chapter 4

“Grace is gone!” Simmons sobbed into the phone. “We put her to bed last night and when we woke up this morning she was gone!”

“What?! They just kidnapped her from your house in the middle of the night?” Daisy wished she could comfort her friend and punish the people responsible simultaneously. 

“No one kidnapped her. She left on her own!” Tears raced down Simmons’s cheeks. “The mother of one of her classmates is an officer at the local police station. She showed us the security footage. Grace walked into the station and said she was an inhuman. She told the officers that she didn’t want her parents and baby sister to get in trouble because of her. It’s not her job to protect us! We should be protecting her!”

“Simmons, I’m so sorry. Do you know where they took her?” Officially S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn’t interfere with the laws of any country without facing severe consequences. Unofficially, Daisy was ready and willing to bust Grace out of whatever detention center she was in and bring her home.

“No. All inhumans are being sent to a top secret facility. Elise—Grace’s classmate’s mother—swore she didn’t know where it was.”

“I’ll find out,” Daisy said. “I promise I’ll call you the second I know anything. Promise me that you and Fitz won’t do anything crazy until you hear from me?”

“I promise, but...” Simmons sighed. “I can’t speak for Fitz.”

XXXXX

Simmons was in the kitchen, forcing herself to eat a sandwich for the baby’s sake (worrying about Grace had ruined her appetite) when her phone rang. Her excitement turned to bitter disappointment as she picked up the phone and saw that the caller wasn’t Daisy. It was Fitz’s mum, Bonnie.

Bonnie wanted Simmons to know that she had told the members of her church about Grace and many of them had said they would pray for her. A few churchgoers had even apologized to Bonnie, saying that they didn’t realize that voting for Magnus Macdougall would affect anyone they knew.

Simmons thanked Bonnie and hung up quickly, not wanting her mother in law to hear her break down.

After letting herself cry for a few minutes, Simmons thought about what Bonnie had said. People who voted for Magnus didn’t think it would affect anyone they knew. Why? Because they had been told that inhumans were animals and monsters. They believed inhumans were a threat to their communities, not a part of them.

Maybe Simmons could change that.

Feeling hopeful for the first time since Grace disappeared, Simmons turned on her computer. Using all the social media accounts she had set up to encourage people to vote, she wrote about Grace and what had happened to her. She included a recent picture Fitz had taken that showed Grace putting her hands on Simmons’s stomach as she talked to her baby sister.

A couple hours after Simmons’s posts were shared again and again by Bonnie, Simmons’s parents, Grace’s teachers, and the parents of her classmates, Simmons was contacted by a local reporter who invited Simmons and Fitz to tell their daughter’s story on a television news program.

The next day, Simmons was sitting in a television studio, waiting to be interviewed. Fitz smiled at her from his spot backstage. Simmons had asked him if he wanted to appear on camera with her, but he had declined. He didn’t trust himself to stay calm if asked a question about Magnus Macdougall.

“We’re here today with Jemma Fitz-Simmons, the mother of an inhuman child who turned herself in to the authorities,” a middle aged male reporter said to begin the interview. “Mrs. Fitz-Simmons--”

“It’s Dr. Fitz-Simmons, actually.”

“My apologies. Dr. Fitz-Simmons, your daughter Grace is just seven years old.” The reporter held up Grace’s school picture, facing it towards the camera. “When did you discover she was an inhuman?”

“Her powers manifested last year.”

“So until then she seemed like an average kid?”

“By all accounts, yes. But my husband and I didn’t know Grace until after she received her powers. We adopted her shortly after she was abandoned by her foster parents.”

“Her foster parents abandoned her because she was an inhuman?”

“Yes. The poor girl was so terrified when she went through terragenesis; she didn’t know what was happening. Her foster parents should have comforted her. Instead they drove her to the nearest police station and left her there. Can you imagine that? She was a six year old child who’d recently endured the death of her grandmother, the only family she’d ever known, and they took her to the police like she was a criminal.” Simmons felt the tears starting to flow. “A six year old child who’d done nothing wrong! She didn’t choose to be an inhuman.”

“Do you need a moment, Dr. Fitz-Simmons? This isn’t live television; we can take a break if you need it.”

Simmons took a few deep breaths and wiped away her tears. Grace needed her to be strong, so she would be. “I’ll be okay.”

“Alright. How did you and your husband come to adopt Grace?” 

“An officer at the police station called S.H.I.E.L.D. for help. My husband and I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. at the time and so we had the opportunity to meet Grace. It didn’t take us long to see that she was a smart and sweet little girl.”

“But not everyone saw her as a sweet little girl. She was targeted by the Watchdogs, an anti-inhuman hate group.”

Simmons fought back more tears. “Yes. They tried to kill her. They would have killed my husband and me too because we weren’t willing to leave her. Grace used her powers to save our lives. We told her she was a superhero. She was so proud of herself.”

The reporter smiled. “Is Grace a big fan of superheroes?”

“Yes. I’m sure she thought she was being a hero when she turned herself in to the police. She told the officers that she wanted to protect her parents and baby sister.” Simmons rubbed her pregnant belly.

“If you could talk to Grace now, what would you want to tell her?”

“I would tell her that her father and I love her very much, and we’ll do everything we can to get her back.”

“Thank you for your time, Dr. Fitz-Simmons.”

“Thank you for having me.”

As soon as the cameras stopped rolling, Fitz ran over to Simmons and gave her a hug. “You were amazing.” He had tears in his eyes. Simmons saw several members of the production crew were also crying. 

Before Fitz and Simmons left the studio, the reporter who interviewed her handed Simmons a homemade card with the words “We miss you, Grace” written in red crayon. “My son made this. He goes to Grace’s school. I know a lot of kids there really like your daughter. I hope you’ll be seeing her again soon.”

Simmons squeezed Fitz’s hand. “So do we.”

XXXXX

Simmons’s interview was rebroadcast by the major news networks. Within a few days, Grace’s story had gone viral and “#BringGraceHome” dominated social media feeds. Other people started sharing the stories of their own inhuman family members and friends, making “#InhumansArePeopleToo” a consistent trending topic.

The backlash against inhuman imprisonment was steadily growing. More and more people were calling for Magnus Macdougall to shut down the inhuman detention center and resign his position.

Meanwhile, Fitz and Simmons were still missing Grace.

Fitz could feel himself reaching a breaking point. He was trying his best to be the supportive husband his wife deserved, to not become the monster he knew lurked inside him. But every day it got a little harder. Not knowing where Grace was or what was happening to her...it was taking its toll. His thoughts were filled with so much rage that he could barely function. He watched his wife struggle to eat and sleep and worried not only about her health, but the health of their unborn baby.

He couldn’t wait any longer for Daisy. His family was falling apart. He needed to find Grace now!

Several plans of attack formed in Fitz’s mind, but he kept coming back to the simplest one: he would put a gun to Magnus Macdougall’s head and force him to reveal the location of the inhuman detention center.

Simmons would try to talk him out of it. Or she’d insist on going with him. 

He couldn’t let anything happen to her or the baby. He had to do this alone.

That night he lay awake beside Simmons as she tossed and turned. When he was certain she was in a deep sleep, he kissed her forehead and snuck out of their bed. A few minutes later, he was dressed and leaving their house.

It was a long drive to Magnus Macdougall’s home. Fitz had plenty of time to reconsider his plan, but he refused to let any doubts enter his thoughts. He had a mission now, and he intended to complete it.

Fitz parked his car a little way down the street from the Macdougall estate. He opened the trunk, which contained his tablet and two black cases, one big and one small. He opened the smaller case to retrieve his gun, putting it in his coat pocket. Then he opened the larger case and pushed a few buttons on a control console. Four cloaked drones rose from the case and drifted up into the sky. 

He kept his eyes on his tablet, monitoring the drones’ progress as they did their surveillance work. Soon they spotted Magnus Macdougall himself. He was sitting in his living room. Alone.

Perfect.

Fitz turned off the tablet and put it back in the trunk. Smiling at his good fortune, he headed for his target.

But his happiness was short-lived.

While Fitz had been watching his tablet, Magnus Macdougall’s security guards had been watching him.


	5. Chapter 5

Stupid. Worthless. Failure.

Fitz’s father’s words repeated themselves on an endless loop in his mind and Fitz felt powerless to stop them.

He had promised himself that he would be a better father than the one he’d had. And for a time he was. He made Grace grilled cheese sandwiches and took her to the zoo and read her bedtime stories...

But now Grace was gone, and his plan to get her back had failed spectacularly. 

Instead of being home with his family, he was sitting in a jail cell.

What would Simmons think when she woke up and he was gone? Grace’s disappearance was difficult enough for her to endure. What if his absence pushed her over the edge?

What if he missed his daughter’s birth because he was locked up? What if he missed her first smiles, her first steps, her first words?

He should have waited for Daisy’s help. He should have stayed by Simmons’s side.

Stupid. Worthless. Failure.

Stupid. Worthless. Failure.

Stupid. Worthless. Fail--

“No.”

Simmons’s voice had broken through the loop. Fitz turned his head towards her voice and discovered that she was sitting in the jail cell beside him.

Because what he really needed right now was to start hallucinating again.

“Don’t listen to your father,” Simmons said. “You are not stupid; you’re the smartest man I know. You are not worthless; you’re worth everything to Grace and me. And you are definitely not a failure. You’re a loving husband and father who has helped save the world on multiple occasions.”

“Thank you.” Fitz shook his head. “I’m saying ‘Thank you’ to myself! You’re not real!”

She put a hand on his shoulder. “The real Simmons would say the same thing. She’s said it to you many times before.”

He buried his head in his hands. “She’s going to be furious with me when she finds out what I’ve done. I don’t blame her. I really screwed up.”

“You made a mistake. Stop spending all your mental energy feeling sorry for yourself and start thinking of a way to fix things. Your family needs you, Fitz. Don’t give up.”

Fitz looked at Simmons for several seconds. Even though he knew she wasn’t really there, seeing her face was still comforting. “I won’t give up.”

“Good. I love you.” Simmons smiled at him and disappeared.

Fitz didn’t give up. His mind kept working on the problem until he had a solution. When he was brought to an interrogation room a few hours later, he was ready.

“Why were you trespassing on Magnus Macdougall’s property?” An officer a few years younger than Fitz asked him.

Fitz kept his voice calm as he replied. “I just wanted to talk to him.”

The officer scoffed. “If that’s all you wanted, why’d you have a gun?”

“The gun was to make him talk to me.”

The officer stared at Fitz for a few moments, trying to decide if he was lying. “What did you want to talk to him about?”

“My daughter. She’s an inhuman. I wanted Magnus to tell me where she was. I thought I could rescue her, but I realize now that I never had a chance. I’m a scientist, not a criminal mastermind! I should have turned myself in when she did.”

“Turned yourself in?” The officer’s eyes widened. “So...you’re one of those freaks?”

Fitz locked eyes with the officer. “We call ourselves inhumans.”

XXXXX

“Fitz?”

Simmons sat up in bed, surprised to see that her husband’s side of the bed was empty. She almost always woke up before he did.

He must be in the bathroom, which was exactly where she needed to go. Her daughter seemed to be sitting on her bladder a lot these days. She made her way to the bathroom, expecting to wait outside the door. 

But the door was wide open.

After using the bathroom, Simmons went to find Fitz, assuming he was in another part of the house.

Was he was making breakfast in the kitchen?

No, the kitchen was empty.

Was he was watching television in the living room? Or getting some work done in their lab? Or sitting outside watching the sunrise?

No, no, no. Fitz wasn’t anywhere in the house or outside of it. 

She saw that their car was gone. He must have driven somewhere. 

She went back inside the house and called his phone again and again. No answer. 

Why wasn’t he answering? 

Where could he be?

Maybe he had gone to get them food for breakfast. 

That was probably it. He would return any moment now with a bag of treats from their favorite bakery. 

There was no need to panic. Everything would be fine. She shouldn’t be stressed. Stress was bad for the baby. She just needed to breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

A knock at the front door interrupted Simmons’s breathing exercises. She looked out the peephole and saw two men in their thirties. One man was wearing a suit and holding a microphone. The other man, dressed more casually, held a television camera. Simmons recognized the man with the microphone as a reporter on a news program she and Fitz watched.

She sighed heavily. She was grateful that Grace’s story was getting such attention, but she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of the press showing up unannounced at her home. And it was so early! She wasn’t dressed, her teeth weren’t brushed, and her hair was a mess. 

She considered pretending she wasn’t at home, but quickly dismissed the thought. She wouldn’t waste an opportunity to share Grace’s story. More media attention meant more people pressuring Magnus Macdougall to shut down the inhuman detention center.

“Wait a few minutes, please,” Simmons said through the door. “I’m not dressed yet.”

She got dressed as fast as she could, brushed her teeth, ran her comb through her hair a few times and then put her hair in a ponytail. She looked at herself in the mirror, noticing the dark circles under her eyes, and reminded herself that her appearance didn’t matter. Only Grace mattered.

Simmons opened the front door and then shut it behind her, not wanting to let these men into her home. They would have to be satisfied with an interview outside. “Thank you for waiting.”

“No problem,” said the reporter, flashing her a smile of perfect teeth. “Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, Mrs. Fitz-Simmons.”

“It’s Dr. Fitz-Simmons.”

“Sorry. Dr. Fitz-Simmons, would you like to make a statement about your husband?”

“What...what about my husband?” Feeling suddenly lightheaded, Simmons put one hand on the door frame to steady herself.

The reporter’s face reddened. “You don’t know?”

Gripping the door frame, Simmons forced herself to take a deep breath. “No. Has something happened to him?”

“He was arrested for trespassing on Magnus Macdougall’s property. They found a gun on him. Do you believe your husband intended to assassinate Magnus Macdougall?”

Breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

Simmons wanted to cry.

She wanted to scream. 

She wanted to curse the cosmos!

There would be time for that later, in the privacy of her home. Now she needed to do whatever she could to help her husband. Maybe she could sway public opinion to his side. 

“My husband isn’t a killer. He’s a scientist who has done pioneering work in the field of prosthetic limbs. Just ask any of the dozens of amputees whose lives he’s touched. If my husband had a gun, it was only for show. I’m sure he only wanted to talk to Magnus, father to father, and beg him to give our daughter back.” The lightheaded feeling was intensifying, but Simmons tried to ignore it. “My husband is a great man and a wonderful father. He would do anything to protect his family. He...he...”

Simmons’s world went black as she collapsed against her front door.


	6. Chapter 6

Simmons was lying on the exam room table as Dr. Penny, a silver haired woman who reminded her of her mother, moved the ultrasound wand over Simmons’s bare belly. Each second seemed like an eternity as Simmons waited to hear her daughter’s heartbeat. Please, she silently begged the cosmos, let my baby be okay. I’ve already lost Grace and Fitz; I can’t lose her too!

As Dr. Penny continued to move the wand, Simmons felt tears sliding down her cheeks. It would be her fault if she lost this baby. She hadn’t been eating enough or drinking enough or sleeping e—

The rapid whirring of her daughter’s heartbeat interrupted her thoughts.

“She sounds strong,” Dr. Penny said. “Just like her mother.”

Simmons let out a sob. “Thank you.”

“I’ll run some tests to be sure, but it’s likely that you fainted due to a combination of hunger, exhaustion, and stress. I know that life hasn’t been kind to you lately, but you still have to take care of yourself. Or let other people take care of you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.” Dr. Penny smiled at her. “Your little girl is counting on you, Jemma.”

Simmons was still crying, but attempted to return the smile. “I know. I’ll do better.”

“I’m sure you will. I’ll call you as soon as I get your test results.” 

Soon after Dr. Penny walked out of the room, a nurse came in to take a blood sample. When the nurse finished, she told Simmons that she was free to go. Simmons took a few minutes to compose herself before walking out of the exam room and into the lobby, where Bonnie Fitz was waiting for her. 

Bonnie put down the baby booties she was knitting and stood up. “How are you, dear?”

“I’m fine.” She tried again to smile, but suspected she wasn’t entirely successful. “Dr. Penny said the baby’s heartbeat sounds strong.”

Bonnie put her hands together in prayer. “Thank the Lord! Does she know why you passed out?”

“She believes that hunger, exhaustion, and stress were to blame.”

“Then let’s get you home.” As the two women moved towards the exit, Bonnie put one arm around Simmons’s shoulders. “I’ll make you something to eat and then you can take a nap. While you rest, I’ll do any household chores that need doing.”

Simmons’s first instinct was to tell Bonnie that her offer was too generous. But then she thought of her doctor’s words. For the sake of her baby, she would put aside her stubbornness and allow other people to help her. “That sounds lovely. Thank you, Bonnie.”

“No need to thank me, Jemma. I’m happy to do what I can to help you and the babe.”

Simmons and Bonnie got into Bonnie’s car. “A reporter called me when you were seeing the doctor,” Bonnie said as she drove out of the parking lot. There were tears in her eyes. “He wanted to know about Leopold.”

Simmons felt a pang of guilt. She had been so focused on her own pain that she hadn’t thought about how the news of Fitz’s arrest had affected his mother. “What did you tell him?”

“The truth. I said that my Leo was always the brightest child in his class, as well as a sweet boy who helped me survive an abusive marriage. I told him about Leo joining S.H.I.E.L.D. and meeting the love of his life when he was sixteen, although it took him several years to realize it.” She smiled at Simmons. “I said he loves Grace like she’s his own blood, and how excited he is to be a father again. What I didn’t say is that I’m disappointed my boy was so foolish. Taking a gun to Magnus Macdougall’s place! Getting arrested! Leaving behind his pregnant wife to worry herself sick! When we get our Leopold back, I’m going to give him a scolding he’ll never forget.”

Simmons laughed in spite of everything. “You raised a wonderful son, Bonnie.”

“Thank you, dear. But I can’t take all the credit. The man he is today is largely because of you. He used to be such a shy, lonely lad, but he started changing when you two met. He became more confident, more willing to take risks. And finally having a friend who appreciated his mind instead of mocking it...he was happier than he’d ever been. Not everyone gets to find their soulmate; I thank the Lord everyday that my son got to find his.”

Simmons felt new tears flowing. “I’m thankful I found him too.” 

Simmons and Bonnie sat in silence for a couple minutes before Simmons remembered that she had turned her phone off while at her doctor’s office. What if she had missed a call from Daisy? She turned her phone back on and it started ringing.

Simmons let out a heavy sigh as she looked at her phone. Once again, the caller wasn’t Daisy.

“My mum’s calling,” Simmons told Bonnie.

“Go ahead and talk to her. She’s probably worried about you.”

Not knowing if she was ready for this conversation, but unable to find an excuse to put it off, Simmons answered the phone. “Hi, Mum.”

Her mother’s words came out in a breathless rush. “Jemma! Your father and I saw you fainting on the news! Are you and the baby alright?”

Simmons’s cheeks were burning. “Yes. I just saw my doctor and we heard the baby’s heartbeat.”

“Thank goodness! How did you get to your doctor’s office? Please tell me you didn’t drive yourself! If you had fainted again while driving--”

“Don’t worry, Mum. Bonnie gave me a ride.”

Her mother finally took a breath. “Good. Please give my thanks to her.”

“I will. How are you and Dad doing?”

“We’re alright. We’re on our way to see you now. As soon as we saw that news report, your father insisted we get in the car. I’m sorry we couldn’t come earlier, when Grace first went missing, but I was dealing with that nasty flu bug and I didn’t want to get you sick. I’m better now. We’ll see you in about three hours. We love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you too, Mum.” Simmons blamed her pregnancy hormones for the fact that she was crying again. “It’ll be nice to see you and Dad.”

After hanging up the phone, Simmons turned to Bonnie. “My parents saw me fainting on the news. They’re on their way to see me.”

“Of course they are! Not to worry; I’ll make food for them too.”

Simmons was about to thank Bonnie when her phone rang again. This time, finally, it was the call she’d been waiting for. She answered right away. “Daisy!”

“I just saw you passing out on the news! Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”

“We’re fine. Please tell me you know something about Grace!”

Daisy sighed. “I still don't know where she is. Macdougall and his people must be keeping records the old-fashioned way to protect against people like me. But I was able to hack into Fitz’s arrest records. He told the officer interrogating him that he was an inhuman, so the officer noted that Fitz was going to be transferred to the IDC, the--”

“Inhuman detention center! So wherever Grace is, Fitz will be there too.” Knowing her husband and daughter would be reunited brought Simmons some comfort.

“Yeah. He’ll find a way to bring her home. Or I will. I won’t stop looking for her. Now tell me honestly. After all the crap you’ve been through lately, are you really ‘fine?’” 

“No, I’m not fine,” Simmons admitted, not caring that Bonnie could hear everything she was saying. “I’ve been a mess ever since Grace disappeared. Fitz was helping me cope, but now he’s gone too. I’ve lost my husband and my daughter...and apparently the whole world saw me collapsing on the news!”

“Probably half the world at most,” Daisy teased. “I’m looking at your social media accounts right now. You have a ton of messages from people who are worried about you and the baby. Don’t be embarrassed that you fainted. Use it to your advantage.” 

XXXXX

With her parents and mother in law sitting behind her, Simmons stood in front of the cameras and, glancing at her notes, began the press conference. “I want to thank everyone who has expressed concern for my well-being and the well-being of my baby. Fortunately my amazing doctor, Elizabeth Penny, was able to see me yesterday afternoon. She examined me and had her nurse take a blood sample to run some tests. Dr. Penny called me this morning to tell me the results of those tests. I’m happy to say that my daughter and I are alright, although Dr. Penny did warn me that I need to take better care of myself. Normally taking care of myself would be a simple task...but since my daughter Grace disappeared, turning herself in to protect her family, and then my husband, Leopold Fitz, was arrested for trying to talk to Magnus Macdougall about getting her back...once simple tasks have become quite difficult.

“If it wasn’t for my baby depending on me...” Simmons touched her swollen abdomen. “If it wasn’t for the support of my wonderful parents and mother in law...” She turned her head to smile at them, then turned back to address the cameras. “I’d be tempted to give in to despair. But I can’t and I won’t, because I know I have to keep fighting. Not just for my family, but for all the families who have seen their loved ones ripped away from them. So to all of you who are watching this now, I have one request. Please speak up. Let Magnus Macdougall and those who serve him know that you believe the inhuman detention center should be shut down. Inhuman men, women and children—people whose only crime is having slightly different DNA—deserve to be reunited with their families. Thank you.”

XXXXX

A couple days later, after Bonnie Fitz had prepared yet another delicious breakfast for Simmons and her parents, Simmons’s father checked her mailbox and returned with a letter. Sitting down again at the breakfast nook, he opened the letter and read it. With their daughter’s permission, Simmons’s parents had started screening all of her mail because, while most of her letters were heartfelt thanks from people who were also missing inhuman loved ones, some letters were full of cruel insults—or threats—from Magnus Macdougall’s supporters. 

Simmons’s father handed her the letter. “You should read this one, sweetheart.”

Simmons took the letter from his hand and began to read it.

“Dr. Fitz-Simmons,

Your press conference inspired me to write to you. I am a member of Magnus Macdougall’s administration. I wanted to work for him because I believed all the things he was saying about inhumans. I thought I would be helping protect humanity from monsters! But when we started rounding up inhumans, I was surprised to discover that some of my best friends were among them. They had never told me because they were afraid of my reaction. I was also surprised that some inhumans were harmless children like your daughter. I tried to talk to Magnus about my concerns, but he said changing our inhuman policy would be seen as a sign of weakness. While he tries to pretend nothing is wrong, people like you and Grace are suffering everyday. I’m so sorry for my role in all this. I hope I can atone for my sins by helping you find your daughter.”

Simmons gasped as she saw two long number sequences at the end of the letter. One for latitude, one for longitude.

The letter writer had given her GPS coordinates.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I began writing this story, my son was learning to crawl. Now he's walking! I'm sorry it took me so long to finish this one; I hope you enjoy the conclusion! :)

“Do you think the letter’s legitimate?” Daisy asked over the phone.

“I don’t know,” said Simmons. Still holding the letter in her hand, she looked at it again. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s just a cruel prank. I’m afraid to get my hopes up.”

“I’ll take a team to check it out. I’ll let you know what we find ASAP, okay?”

Simmons found herself nodding, even though she knew Daisy couldn’t see her. “Thank you, Daisy.”

XXXXX

The inhuman detention center was not what Fitz had imagined.

He was expecting a high tech facility with containment modules like the ones he’d designed for S.H.I.E.L.D.. But what he found was a dilapidated warehouse that had been hastily converted into a prison. The chain link cells weren’t actually able to contain the most powerful inhumans, so the frightened guards had threatened to harm the families of anyone who escaped.

Fitz decided his best shot at freeing himself and Grace was to befriend the guards. When he overheard one guard tell another that the television they used to watch football during their breaks was malfunctioning, Fitz offered to fix it. He also extended the battery life of their cell phones. In exchange, the guards let Fitz have more freedom than the average prisoner and, a couple days after he arrived, he was allowed to visit the area where the children were kept.

The children’s cells were slightly nicer than the adult ones; they had some books and toys for the children to play with. Fitz saw Grace sitting on a blanket on the floor, reading a book. His voice trembled as he called out his daughter’s name.

Grace dropped the book and ran up to the front of her cell. “Daddy! I missed you so much!” 

Fitz’s eyes filled with tears. “I missed you too, Gracie.” He desperately wanted to hold her, but the guards had told him that was against the rules. 

“Can we go home now, Daddy?”

“Not yet.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “But soon. I’m going to find a way to get us out of here. I promise.”

XXXXX

“The letter was real,” Daisy told Simmons over the phone. “The coordinates led us to this crappy looking warehouse. We sent one of Fitz’s cloaked drones inside and we saw so many inhumans crammed into these cages...it was awful.”

Simmons let out a shuddering breath. “Did you see Fitz and Grace?”

“Yeah. Fitz was pacing in his cell, probably trying to work on his escape plan. And Grace was reading a book.” Daisy raised her voice in anger. “They shouldn’t be caged like animals! My team could get them out right now. We could get them all out!”

“But you shouldn’t,” Simmons said, the words paining her to speak them. “S.H.I.E.L.D. can’t be caught breaking the law. You’ll get disbanded again, and then who will save the Earth from the next apocalyptic disaster? We need the government to change the law.”

XXXXX

Magnus Macdougall ordered his entire staff to come into his office. When everyone had gathered around his desk, he stared at each one in turn. “Who wants to guess what I saw on the news this morning?”

When no one answered him, Macdougall pounded his fists on his desk. “I should have been the first to know that Jemma Fitz-Simmons was holding a protest outside the inhuman detention center! Who does that bitch think she is?! I want her and every other protester arrested immediately!”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, sir,” said Alexander, one of his top advisers. Alexander was a decade older than his boss and accustomed to being the voice of reason.

Macdougall glared at him. “Why not?”

“Optics. It won’t look good for us to be arresting Dr. Fitz-Simmons when she’s so pregnant. As for the other protesters, the crowd includes a lot of elderly women, apparently part of a local church group, as well as a number of families with young children. I think we should just wait them out. In a day or two the press will get bored and the protesters will give up and go back to their lives.”

Macdougall was quiet for a few moments as he considered his adviser’s words. “Fine. They have two days to come to their senses and go back to their kitchens. Anyone left on day three is going to jail.” 

XXXXX

The crowd outside the inhuman detention center was even larger on the second day of protesting. Many people who arrived on the second day had been inspired by a photograph, taken the day before, that had swept across social media. In the photo, a little girl named Charlotte, one of Grace’s classmates, stood next to her mother outside the detention center. Charlotte held a sign that said: “Please let my friend go.” The words, written in purple marker, with the ‘s’ in ‘Please’ drawn backwards, were clearly in Charlotte’s own handwriting. 

Others came because they were disgusted by a video, anonymously uploaded to the internet, showing inhumans crammed into the cells of the detention center. Reporters speculated about who had taken the video, but Simmons didn’t need to wonder. She knew the footage came from the drone Daisy had sent.

On the third day of protests, as the crowd continued to grow, police officers began ordering people to leave, telling them they would be arrested if they stayed.

Some people left. Many more did not. 

The police realized they were going to need reinforcements. While they stood around waiting for back-up to arrive, and while protesters shouted “Let them go!” and “Inhuman lives matter,” Simmons had a terrible realization.

She was going into labor. 

She had felt some tightening in her abdomen earlier in the day, but had told herself it was probably just Braxton-Hicks contractions. But as the contractions grew stronger and came closer together, she could no longer deny the truth. Her daughter was coming!

Simmons’s father, Edward, was the first one to notice the change in his daughter’s demeanor. He put his hand on her shoulder and asked if she was okay.

“I’m not okay, Dad,” she answered truthfully. She was fighting the urge to panic. “I’m in labor!”

“You’re in labor?” Asked Simmons’s mother, Alice. “But you still have a month to go! You need to go to the hospital now!”

“No,” Simmons said though gritted teeth as another contraction came. “I’m not going without Fitz and Grace.”

“But Jemma--”

“I need Fitz by my side, Mum! He’d never forgive himself for missing his daughter’s birth. And we promised Grace she could be there when her sister was born.”

Bonnie Fitz, who had been talking to a woman from her church, heard the commotion and came over to Simmons. “What’s going on, dear?”

Alice answered for her daughter. “Jemma’s in labor but she says she won’t go to the hospital without Fitz and Grace!”

Bonnie took a deep breath. “Okay. You two stay with your daughter. I’ll go talk to the press and let them know what’s going on. We’re going to make Magnus Macdougall’s life hell.”

XXXXX

From his cell, Fitz could see several guards clustered around the television he had fixed. He couldn’t hear the television, but he knew there wasn’t a football game on because the guards weren’t screaming players’ names. Whatever they were watching had them staring in silence. One of the guards, a man in his twenties, turned to look at him for a moment, then turned back to the other guards. “Should we tell Fitz?” 

There was no answer.

“Tell me what?” Fitz asked.

The guards looked at each other. 

“Tell me what?!” Fitz repeated impatiently.

The young guard walked over to Fitz’s cell. “Your wife is protesting outside and just went into labor. She’s refusing to go to the hospital unless you and your daughter can go with her.”

“No no no!” Struggling to keep his emotions in check, Fitz locked eyes with the young guard. “Fergus, you have to help me! Please! I need to see my wife! Let me out!”

“You know I can’t do that.” Fergus seemed genuinely sympathetic. “I’d lose my job, and I have my own family to take care of. But maybe Magnus Macdougall will pardon you.”

Fitz laughed bitterly. “I brought a gun to his house. Why would he pardon me?”

“Your mum is talking to reporters right now. She’s begging people to call Macdougall’s office and tell him to let you and Grace go. She said that if anything happens to her daughter in law and grandbaby, their blood will be on his hands.”

“No.” Fitz could hear the Doctor’s voice in his mind. “If anything happens to my wife and baby, I won’t rest until Macdougall’s blood is on MY hands.”

XXXXX

Edward held Simmons’s hand as she endured yet another contraction. “You’re doing so well, sweetheart. I’m so proud of you. Your little girl is lucky to get such an amazing mum.”

When the contraction ended, Simmons hugged her father. “Thank you, Dad.”

Alice walked towards them, holding her phone and a piece of paper covered in handwritten notes. “I just got off the phone with your doctor. She’s graciously agreed to come see you. Until she gets here, she gave me a list of things I could do to help you.” She held up the paper. “How painful are your contractions now?”

“Very painful,” Jemma admitted.

Alice started massaging her daughter’s back. “How does that feel?”

“Good. Thank you, Mum.”

“I’ll do everything I can to get you through this, Jemma. But please, reconsider going to a hospital. They could give you an epidural for the pain.”

“I told you that I’m not going without Fitz or--”

“Fitz wouldn’t want you to be in pain,” Alice argued. “And he definitely wouldn’t want you risking your life or the baby’s life!”

“I’m sorry, Mum. My mind is made up.”

“Of course it is. You were never one to give up easily, even as a baby.” She sighed. “God help you if your daughter is half as stubborn as you are!” 

XXXXX

While the phones in Magnus Macdougall’s office were ringing incessantly, exhausting the aides tasked with answering them, a crowd of protesters had formed outside. They carried signs with slogans about inhuman rights and shouted “Let them go!” again and again.

Macdougall looked out his window at the crowd below. “When I look at all those people, do you know what I see?”

“No, sir,” said Alexander, standing in front of his boss’s desk.

“I see my son when he was four years old, throwing a bloody tantrum in a grocery store because I wouldn’t buy his favorite treats. A good parent doesn’t give a child everything he wants. And a good leader doesn’t give in to mob rule.”

“A nice analogy, sir. But in this case...you might want to give the child the treat. Your political opponents are using the Fitz-Simmons situation against you. They say your failure to show mercy towards a pregnant woman in labor is a sign that--”

“Do we know she’s really in labor?” Scoffed Macdougall. “This could just be another publicity stunt, like when she conveniently fainted during that interview.”

“Reporters are saying that Dr. Fitz-Simmons appears to be in a lot of pain. She’s getting more sympathy every minute. Polls are showing that support for a recall election is the highest it’s ever been.”

“This wouldn’t have happened if we’d arrested her on the first day of protests!” Macdougall shouted. “She would be giving birth in a cell, far from the public eye. This whole situation is your fault!”

“Yes, sir. So let me fix it. I’ll announce to the press that you have decided to release Leopold and Grace Fitz-Simmons. Not because you’re giving in to mob rule, but because you’ve determined that they aren’t a threat to public safety. I’ll remind the public that the point of the inhuman detention center is to protect humanity from monsters.”

“I’ll give my own press conference, Alex. You’re fired. Get out of my office!”

Surprised, Alexander turned to leave. He had expected he’d get fired eventually, but he thought it would be after Macdougall learned he was the one to give Jemma Fitz-Simmons the location of the inhuman detention center.

XXXXX

By the time Dr. Penny arrived, the once peaceful protest outside the detention center looked more like a war zone. Police officers had started arresting protesters, some of whom were fighting back. Dr. Penny moved around the edges of the fray and eventually saw her patient lying on a blanket on the ground. An older couple she assumed were Simmons’s parents sat on either side of her, holding her hands. Another woman stood guard in front of her; Dr. Penny recognized Bonnie Fitz from the news.

Dr. Penny introduced herself to her patient’s parents and mother in law.

“Thank you so much for coming,” Alice said. “I’ve been monitoring her contractions and I think we’re close now.”

“Okay. Let’s see how you’re progressing, Jemma.” Dr. Penny kneeled on the ground to examine her. “I agree with your mother. You’re fully dilated. It’s time to start pushing.”

“No! This isn’t right,” Simmons cried. “Fitz should be here to see this!”

Her doctor gave her a sympathetic smile. “Babies rarely come when we’d like them to. They have a mind of their own. Your daughter has decided she’s ready to meet you, but she can’t get here without your help. Will you help your daughter, Jemma?”

Simmons nodded tearfully and began to push.

XXXXX

“I get that you don’t want to lose your job,” Fitz said to the young guard. “But if you let me out of here, I could offer you a job in the business my wife and I are starting. We make prosthetic limbs for amputees. You’d be helping people and making decent money. Whatever you’re making here, I’ll double it.”

Fergus looked like he was considering Fitz’s offer when another guard came up to him.

“Fergus! Macdougall just called!” 

XXXXX

Several minutes after she started pushing, Simmons hit a wall. “I can’t do this anymore, Mum. It hurts too much!”

“Women have been doing this for thousands of years, sweetheart.” Alice squeezed her daughter’s hand. “And you’re the strongest woman I know. I’ll tell you what my mother told me: The pain is temporary; the love you’ll feel for your baby will last a lifetime.”

Simmons smiled at her mother through her tears. As she prepared to start pushing again, a voice in the distance shouted “JEMMA!”

Another voice, almost as loud, called out “Mommy!” 

Simmons sat up, tears of pain suddenly giving way to tears of joy. “Fitz! Grace! I’M HERE!”

Police officers and protesters stopped fighting. News crews spun their cameras to capture what everyone was watching: Leopold and Grace Fitz-Simmons running over to Jemma.

Simmons’s parents moved so Fitz and Grace could hold her hands. Kneeling beside his wife, Fitz kissed her cheek. “Jemma, I’m so sorry I left you. I’m so sorry I almost missed this!”

“I’m sorry too, Mommy,” said Grace.

“I know.” Simmons kissed her daughter’s forehead, then her husband’s. “It’s okay. You’re both here now. Let’s meet our baby.”

Surrounded by her husband, her daughter, her parents, and her mother in law—on a field in front of a warehouse turned prison—Simmons gave birth to a baby girl.

Everyone agreed she was the most perfect baby they’d ever seen.

XXXXX

“So that’s the story of how you were born.” It was almost 4 AM. Fitz was sitting in a rocking chair in the nursery, holding his five month old daughter. The baby in purple pajamas (picked out by her big sister) had closed her eyes a few minutes ago, but Fitz wanted to make sure she was in a deep sleep before putting her back in her crib.

“We decided to name you Rose, after Grandma Bonnie’s mother. Grandma Bonnie was very happy about that. Grandma Alice was a little sad we didn’t use her mother’s name, but she understood why we didn’t go with Gertrude. Your middle name, Elizabeth, is in honor of the doctor who helped you come into this world.

“When you were two months old, the inhuman detention center was finally shut down and its former occupants were reunited with their families. Meanwhile, Magnus Macdougall’s political opponents managed to arrange a recall election...but the results weren’t what they wanted. A write-in candidate won. You know who that person was?”

Fitz paused for dramatic effect, even though his audience was asleep.

“It was your mum! People were impressed with her organization of the protest outside the detention center, as well as how eloquently she spoke about inhumans. Your mum was so surprised when she found out. She was anxious too, because she didn’t know anything about governing. But when your mother decides to learn something, she works harder than anyone I’ve ever known. She’s doing an amazing job; Scotland is lucky to have her. Now we can do our part by letting her get as much sleep as possible. Okay, Rosie?”

Fitz stood up and gently placed Rose in her crib. He waited for a minute or two to see if she would wake up again. When she didn’t, he crept out of her room and went down the hall to check on Grace. After reassuring himself that Grace was in her room and asleep, he went back to the master bedroom and climbed into bed beside his wife.

Less than an hour later, Fitz was awakened again by the sound of crying. But it wasn’t the baby this time. It was Simmons.

Fitz instantly wrapped his arms around her. Her eyes remained closed. “It’s okay, Jemma. It’s just a dream.”

Simmons slowly opened her eyes. “Oh, Fitz. It was awful! You and Grace were back in the detention center, and I couldn’t find Rosie...”

“We’re all here, Jemma. The girls are safe and asleep in their rooms. I just checked on them a little while ago.”

“Will you check on them again? Please?”

“Of course.” Fitz left the bed, peeked into his daughters’ rooms, then returned to the master bedroom. “They’re still sleeping. Grace is holding her triceratops. Rosie’s curled up in a corner of her crib. She’s got one arm sticking out between the bars.”

Simmons smiled. “Thank you, Fitz.”

Fitz kissed her cheek. “You’re welcome. Let’s try to go back to sleep.”

Several minutes passed as both husband and wife lay in silence. Eventually Fitz whispered, “Are you still awake?”

“Yes. I don’t think I’m falling asleep again at this point.”

“Same.” Fitz looked at the clock on the bedside table. “The sun will be coming up soon. You want to watch the sunrise with me?”

“That sounds lovely.”

Mr. and Mrs. Fitz-Simmons got out of bed and stood by their bedroom window. Holding hands, they welcomed the start of another day together.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Feedback is appreciated.


End file.
